The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for sealing folding tabs of a pack (cigarette pack) wrapped in a sealable blank, by means of heated sealing members which, during a standstill phase of the packs conveyed intermittently, can be pressed against these in the region of the folding tabs (sealing cycle).
In the sealing of folding tabs of packaging blanks, that is to say the connection of such folding tabs to one another by thermal welding, there is the problem, on high-speed packaging machines, of carrying out the welding of the folding tabs within the extremely short sealing times available (sealing cycle), in such a way that they are connected to one another as accurately and as tightly as possible, but the packaging material and the pack itself are not damaged. On packaging machines for cigarette packs, the cycle times are extremely short. The sealing of the outer wrapping consisting of plastic films (polyethylene, etc.) has to be carried out accurately within the shortest possible time. The present invention is mainly concerned with the finishing and sealing of such outer wrappings of cigarette packs.